Solve for $x$ and $y$ using elimination. ${-3x-5y = -48}$ ${-3x+3y = 24}$
We can eliminate $x$ by adding the equations together when the $x$ coefficients have opposite signs. Multiply the top equation by $-1$ ${3x+5y = 48}$ $-3x+3y = 24$ Add the top and bottom equations together. $8y = 72$ $\dfrac{8y}{{8}} = \dfrac{72}{{8}}$ ${y = 9}$ Now that you know ${y = 9}$ , plug it back into $\thinspace {-3x-5y = -48}\thinspace$ to find $x$ ${-3x - 5}{(9)}{= -48}$ $-3x-45 = -48$ $-3x-45{+45} = -48{+45}$ $-3x = -3$ $\dfrac{-3x}{{-3}} = \dfrac{-3}{{-3}}$ ${x = 1}$ You can also plug ${y = 9}$ into $\thinspace {-3x+3y = 24}\thinspace$ and get the same answer for $x$ : ${-3x + 3}{(9)}{= 24}$ ${x = 1}$